Where Can I Find – Game Meat

This is not a ‘where can I find’ question! It is a ‘Why can’t I find’ question.

I was just wondering if you know why game is so hard to get in Ontario, relative to Quebec or even many places in the U.S. I know where to find it in town, but it is a pain; and mainstream markets never seem to carry it.

In Quebec the big chains like Metro even carry bear meat in season! Just wondering if there was some sort of law in Ontario that made selling game difficult or something?

There is indeed. Hunted game carcasses cannot be sold to the public, regardless of whether they are processed in a provincially licensed meat plant or not. Hunted game can be consumed by the hunter for personal use, but it may not be sold. As such, a lot of the more rare game meats such as moose or bear just aren’t available at the retail level.

Tracking down game meat in the city isn’t actually that hard, although, as mentioned above, you won’t find anything rare due the rules about selling hunted meat. And the idea of a “bear farm” just hurts the head.

Between the game farmers who vend at some of the city’s markets and a few stores spread throughout Toronto, procuring most farmed game meat is fairly easy. If you’re buying from a retail shop, calling ahead to ensure they have what you want in stock is advised, but generally the standards such as venison, rabbit, elk and bison are pretty easy to find.

Healthy Butcher (565 Queen Street West) – offers a rotating stock of bison, elk, rabbit and venison. They can also custom order any of the above meats as well as game birds such as ostrich, quail, pheasant and partridge.